Temperance And The Devil
by Justanothersinger
Summary: "Wake up? I can't." "Why not, Angel?" "The person in my dream is crying again." Steampunk angel AU where Shintaro is a bounty hunter and Konoha is a very confused angel[who's also supposed to be extinct but w/e details]


**Trigger warnings : Suicide.**

Temperance and the Devil  


Day 0:

What was it? This feeling.

This feeling he can barely remember.

The wind blows through his hair, it's cold. He pulls his jacket over himself and suppresses a shiver. Pulls his hood over his hair and leans a little bit closer.

In front of him is nothing but air and the city below, glowing in the night.

Nothing to support him from below and nothing to hold him from above.

Only the abyss below, unfolding in his eyes, the faint glimmer of city lights lost in the darkness.

 _There isn't much time left._

 _Neither for this world, nor for me._

In his ear, he could hear the girl scream, a mix of static and desperation. He taps the phone, turns down the volume more and when there's total silence, he closes his eyes.

 _No time left._

He takes another step.

 _No time left._

He spreads his arms.

 _No time left._

And he falls, he surrenders himself to the abyss.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 _Once upon a time, there existed the City of Light._

 _A city on an island that floats in the sky, shrouded by the love of the rays of the sun._ _  
_

He clicks his tongue as the the light flickers again. He hears a screech and it's moving again, running towards him with frightening speed.

His only response is to flip his hood up, a grin on his face.

 _In this City of Light, angels and humans lived in harmony._

"Ah, it's another starless night out today."

"It's fine. There'll be plenty enough lights for them to see you onstage."

 _The angels protected humans from the wrath of their fallen brethren-_

Shards of glass shine in the dim light as she hears a scream right in her ear and they fall back, through the window and into the night below.

Before she could even think, she holds her breath and closes her eyes.

 _And the humans worshiped the angels and powered them through their prayer._

"Everyooooonneeeeee!"

Like clockwork, they all glanced at the screen and it flickers, they feel the flicker of electricity on their skin and in their hands, their phones start to flicker and glow.

 _In this land ruled a girl, the princess of angels._

 _In this land lived a boy, the most powerful of humans._

"I can't hold on for much longer..." He whispers, looking at the sky. The roads stretch out endlessly in front of him.

"Where am I?"

 _The boy stayed by the girl's side, a powerful fighter._

 _The girl stayed by the boy's side, a graceful ruler.  
_

 _And slowly, but surely they fell in love._

"Mmm...was that a dream?" She asks the empty room.

Her book has slipped from her hands and fallen on the floor.

 _But one day, the boy's heart turned to stone._

 _He betrayed his kingdom and killed the girl._

"Hah...ha...h...shit..."

He swears as he uses the wall to support himself, pulling himself up. He can't feel his lip, there's blood trickling down his nose.

It's too dark for him to see.

 _And as he leaps off the precipice and falls through the sky,_

 _The Sun weeps tears for her fallen queen and sinks past the horizon as well._

He grits his teeth and lunges at the monsters but never meets his target.

He's thrown against the wall, his shoulder hurts and he's about to scream when the monster tears into his skin.

 _But this story is not about this sordid legend._

 _This story takes place afterwards, in a different time, a different land._

Or it would have, if something hadn't knocked it off right away.

There's a soft glow right in front of him and he opens his eyes to see...

Wings.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 _This story is about City of the Blind and its inhabitants._

 _Of the humans that are stranded in its darkness and the angels that vanished from view._

"An..." His throat is dry, but it's loud enough to get his attention. The white-haired boy looks back at him with a blank expression, but he only has eyes for the boy's back

 _This story is about a cowardly human and an boy that should have disappeared long ago.  
_

 _What happened next would change the world around them._

 _For better-_

"An angel?"

 _Or for worse.  
_

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 **Temperance and the Devil**

 **Prologue: The dead help the dying, by killing the monsters.**

 **End.**

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x


End file.
